Remember the date

August 10, 2006

Given that this was supposed to be the day that changed history, the defining date of the era, it’s a little disconcerting that so many Americans have forgotten key details about the [tag]9/11[/tag] attacks — such as which [tag]year[/tag] it happened.

Some 30 percent of Americans cannot say in what year the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington took place, according to a published poll.

The Washington Post said that while the country is preparing to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives and shocked the world, 95 percent of Americans questioned in the poll were able to remember the month and the day of the attacks.

But when asked what year, 30 percent could not give a correct answer.

Seriously? Almost one-in-three Americans? Apparently so. According to the poll, of those who didn’t know, 6% said the attacks occurred before 2001, 18% said after, and 16% said “they had no idea whatsoever.”

As The Great Society put it, “If we didn’t call it ‘9/11,’ I wonder if they would know it happened on September 11.”

I’d wonder about the five year law for informants and Plame.

  • between NCLB and the grownups who can’t remember things, the kids of America are screwed. By the way—30%—isn’t that number strangly similar to “The Base?”

  • I think we have to face facts that about 30% of the public are ignorant to just about everything. I don’t find 30% surprising at all.

  • Dont assume either that by calling it 9/11 everyone knows it’s September 11th. This is the land of the ignorant. 75% dont know from whom we fought to get our independence. 50% think Saddam had WMDs. Britney Spear’s love life is more important than knowing who your Congressman and Senators are.
    I’m sure we would be mortified by asking people what “9/11” actually stands for.

  • “A day that will live in apathy.” – Alibubba

    LOL

    I’ve concluded that having foisted Boy George II on us, the goal of the Theocratic Reactionaries is to dumb Americans down enough that they will believe in Creationism and Genesis. Since, after all, critical thought and knowledge lead to a state of biblical denial which, if allowed to continue, would further postpone the Rapture and cause all these ‘good’ Christians to have to actually die to go to heaven, like generations of people before them.

    So it surprises me little that 30% of Americans are so lacking in memorization skills that they have forgotten that 9/11 happened in 2001.

  • Equating this 30 percentile to “the base” might be a little cynical but it does appear as though this type of ignorance is precisely why we’re all here pulling our hair out day after day. I.e.: the lowest form of political scum have figured out that the ignorant masses are just the “Etch-a-sketch of humanity” they need to scrawl out their perverted version of reality.

    And I guess I’ll be the first here to mention the “gift” al Qaeda have just given to the Bush Administration. I give up.

  • And apparently the whole Pennsylvania thing was just a figment of our imaginations…

    I get so tired of it always being shortened to NYC & DC.

  • By the way—30%—isn’t that number strangly similar to “The Base?”
    Comment by Steve

    Get outta my head, you.

  • In defense of those who got it wrong, it sure seems like a lot longer than five years since Bush became a great wartime leader.

  • Limbaugh math, Steve?

    Two thoughts. One, how many other events do you think 70% of Americans could name the year it happened in?

    Two, who really cares? Regardless of the propaganda that’s been piled on the event, the simple fact of the matter is that a great deal less than 70% of the American populace was affected in any way by 9/11, besides what they saw on TV. It was a TV show, their loved ones didn’t die; most of them had never seen the World Trade Center in person, much less knew anyone who worked there.

  • I’ve been trying to find the poll in the WaPo with no success. I was curious about the exact wording of the questions. Did they ask:T he country is preparing to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives and shocked the world.
    1)What month and day did it occur? 2) What year did it occur?

    If so this says more about the American publics inability to do simple math word problems than it does about their knowledge of current events. Does anyone have the exact wording of the poll?

  • FDR’s war speech before Congress after Pearl Harbor invoked the image of “December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy.”

    In our sound-bit culture, though, that’s too much of a mouthful. Pearl Harbor today would be “12/7.”

    Even “September eleventh” is too long a phrase for most people, who have contracted it to “9/11.”

    And not knowing the year plays into the Rove game, which is to make everyone believe that 9/11 happened last week.

    PS – It’s also about priorities. I recall a recent poll of high school students where something like half the student body didn’t know who some of our Presidents were, but 95% correctly identified Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

  • Actually it does note that this problem is disproportionately occurring among older Americans. So it’s crappy, but it’s not as crappy as if it was distributed across age groups evenly.

  • Some mnemonic aids:

    It happened on B’s watch.
    It happened his first year.

    That means after Jan 20, 2001… but before Jan 20, 2002.

    There is only one Sept. between those dates.

  • I have to admit that to come up with the year, I require a train of thought– “First year of the Bush administration– Bush/Gore race was in 2000– Bush took office in 2001– 2001!”

  • TeeVee/GameBoys strike again! No one remembers anything anymore. What’s the point? Just gawk at the screen and ride the eternal treadmill, operated at the moment by and for the Bush Crime Family, and regard anyone who needs to rock the boat as (eek) Revolutionary. As long as you remember to pay all your taxes on time, nothing else matters.

  • I doesn’t concern me that people would forget the date if what happened on that day were not simply referred to by the date. 9/11 now means the attacks. It’s an unusual way to name something – e.g. we usually don’t refer to the Pearl Harbor attack as “December 7, 1941”.

    I wonder what other dates are equivalent to the event that made them important dates? July 4 would be one.

  • #12 Good point…9/11 is definitely the day that will live in infamy for my generation, and I doubt there are many dates people remember more. I disagree that less than 70% of people were affected…the reason terrorism is effective is because it makes people think it could happen to them. When they shutdown the airways for two or three days, when there were rumors of other missing planes, and don’t forget it wasn’t just NYC, it was Washington and Pennsylvania, I think just about everyone felt vulnerable. I was living in Boston at the time, and I didn’t know anyone at the WTC, and the last time I had seen the buildings was after the first bombing, but on the evening of Sept. 11th, I sure as hell worried that the fabric of our society would unravel if the attacks continued. Let’s not forget that at the time, we didn’t KNOW that Sept. 11th was just about those 4 planes…

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